Self-lighting burner.



P. A. BUTLER. SELF LIGHTING BURNER.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT.12,1911.

1,088,320. Patented Feb. 24, 1914 qAz Z5 l3 "HUN Frank flBufler;

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRANK A. BUTLER, OF EVERETT, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO NO-1VIATCH GAS- LIGHTER COMPANY, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, CORPORATION OF MAINE.

SELF-LIGHTING BURNER.

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T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK A. BUTLER, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Everett, in the county of Middlesex and Commonwealth of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Self-Lighting Burners, of which the following is a specification.

The object of this invention is the construction of a gas burner which will immediately light itself when the gas is turned on, which will have no electric sparker, no continuously burning pilot light, or other expense-consuming means for the purpose, which will be simple, inexpensive, durable, certain in its action, and capable of automatic relighting if blown out.

My invention is based upon a discovery, new at least to me, that the amount of gas which will issue from a jet or tip after being lighted is far in excess of that which will issue if the same is not burning. Perhaps the reason for this is that when the unburning stream of gas issues against the surrounding atmosphere, it has a marked resistance to overcome; but when the jet has been lighted, the gas is consumed so rapidly as to materially diminish such resistance. According to my experiments, the resistance after the gas is lighted is not more than a quarter what it was before. This discovery I. have utilized in the construction of the selflighting gas burner forming the subject-matter of this application. In doing this, a minute pilot-light tube is provided with an igniting device, as platinum sponge, and its ability to receive gas from the burner-supply is so restricted that the moment the gas is lighted and the pressure diminished as above set forth, practically no gas will pass to the pilot tube and the pilot flame thereat will either be extinguished for lack of gas or the flame will be rendered so minute as to be negligible.

Referring to the drawings forming part of this specification, Figure 1 is a sectional elevation of a gas burner embodying the invention. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same showing the height to which the pilot flame shoots up and the consequent certainty of its igniting the burner flame. Fig. 3 is a detail view of the pilot jet igniter. Fig. 4 is a sectional view of a desirable form of burner tip.

In Fig. 1, the reference numeral 1 desig- Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed September 12, 1911.

Patented Feb. 24, 1914.

Serial No. 648,954.

nates the gas supply pipe provided with the usual cock, and 3 is a well known form of burner having a tip 4 adapted to throw the flame laterally, as illustrated in Fig. 2. The type of tip best adapted for this purpose is that shown in section in Fig. 4, since it spreads the flame especially well. The burner tube 3 screws upon the suitably threaded nipple 5 of the head 6 which terminates the supply pipe 1; said nipple being made long enough to accommodate the plate 7, the latter being firmly secured in place by said tube. This plate supports a tube 9 open from end to end, and proportioned to equal the burner tube 1 in height. Immediately beneath the open lower end of said tube 9 is a boss 10 projecting from said head 6, and carrying a slender pilot tube 11 ris ing within the tube 9 to substantially half the height of the latter. Diametrically through the head 6 and into said boss far enough to communicate with the pilot tube 11, is drilled a small hole 12 much of which is tapped for the reception of the screw 13. By introducing this screw more or less into the threaded section of the hole 12 within the boss 10, a minuteness of gas-supply is provided which cannot be secured otherwise. By suitably adjusting this screw, enough gas will be admitted to the pilot tube 11 to maintain a flame before the burner starts its blaze, but to discontinue the supply immediately afterward. For igniting the pilot jet, a pellet of suitable material, as platinum sponge 15, is suspended upon fine wires 16, preferably of platinum, between the end of the pilot tube 11 and the igniter tube 9; said wires being stretched upon the harp 17, shown in Fig. 3, which is secured within the lastnamed tube. As soon as the gas issuing from the pilot tube reaches said pellet, the latter becomes intensely heated and ignites the gas. The air, rising through the igniter tube in a vigorous current, intensifies the combustion and causes a very hot blue flame to issue from the said tube 9. This instantly ignites the gas which is jetting laterally over the end of the said tube, and then, the supply being robbed from the pilot tube, the ignition flame expires or dies down to a negligible spark and the illuminant flame continues alone. Should, now, the last-named flame be blown out, the gas pressure immediately increases within the burner and head 6, the supply to the pilot tube is again permitted to flow, the jet therefrom set on fire, and the gas issuing from the burner at once ignited. This self igniting burner is consequently not only a most convenient 011e, but one which cannot be blown out to remain so. Hence it is a guarantee against the asphyxiations so constantly occurring, and the many explosions similarly caused.

There are many essential features in connection with the details of .this invention whichonly experiment could disclose. For instance, the addition of the igniter tube to the pilot tube increases several fold the size of the pilot flame, and correspondingly reduces the amount of gas required therefor. Further, it enables a vertically extended igniting device to be located between the pilot tube and the tip of the burner, and at the same time carries the pilot flame to a considerable distance above the said tip. lVithout the igniter tube, the flame from the pilot tube would rise scarcely more than quarter of an inch. I also find it to be very important to locate the pilot tube close to one side of the igniter tube, since in such position it interferes less with the draft through the latter tube, whichdraft is very important, both for increasing the igniting or pilot flame, and for the ignition itself. Without such draft, the igniting device 15 will be either very slow in its task, or incapable of suiiicient oxidation to ignite the gas. The slenderness ofthe pilot tube is equally important, for two reasons, the first being that if too much gas issues therefrom, the proportion of air will be too small for causing the incandescence of the igniter element 15. The second is that too large a channel for the gas to the pilot light will render the flow incapable of stopping after the burner has been lighted. This stoppage of flow is almost equally dependent upon its being restricted or choked at the very point where it comes from the main supply, and upon having such constriction adjustable, as by the screw 13, since it is impossible to drill a hole sufiiciently small without the certainty of its becoming clogged by the deposits from the gas, and the same must be varied to suit the different qualities of gas and the differing pressures in diiferent localities.

What I claim as my invention and for which I desire Letters Patent, is as follows, to wit 1. The combination with a gas burner, of a head having a longitudinal conduit and a threaded nipple engaging the burner, a plate fitted to said nipple between said burner and head, an igniter tube held by said plate parallel with and close to said burner, the said tube being open from end to end, a pilot tube rising within said igniter tube and communicating at its lower end with said conduit, and an igniting device within the upper part of said igniter tube.

2. The combination with a gas burner, and means for supplying gas thereto, of an igniter tube close beside and parallel with said burner and having its upper end near with the tip of said burner, said tube being open from end to end, a slender pilot tube within the ignited tube, the former rising to only part the height of the latter and being located close to one side thereof, means of communication between the lower end of the pilot tube and said conduit, said communicating means joining the conduit at right angles, and an igniting device within the upper part of the igniter tube.

3. The combination with a gas burner and a head supporting the same and having a conduit for supplying gas thereto, said head having a boss projecting from one side thereof, an igniter tube supported above said boss close to and parallel with the burner, a slender pilot tube rising from said boss within the igniter tube to substantially one-half the latters height and close to one side thereof, an igniting device within the upper part of the igniter tube, a hole being formed through said head into said boss from a point opposite the latter, said hole communicating with the pilot tube, and a. screw tapped within said hole and terminating at the juncture of said conduit and the opposite section of said hole.

In testimony that. I claim the foregoing invention, I have hereunto set my hand this 9th day of September, 1911.

FRANK A. BUTLER.

Witnesses:

A. B. UPHAM, GEORGE I WALES.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents.

' Washington, D. G. 

